BP Shuts U.S. Plant, Moves PV Production to China and India

[Mary Shaffer Speight]

Click Here for Article

By DAVID DISHNEAU
(AP)

–
6 days ago

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — BP Solar said Friday it is closing its landmark Frederick manufacturing plant as part of a reshaping of the U.S. solar industry in a cost-cutting move that will eliminate 320 jobs. The company, a San Francisco-based unit of London-based BP PLC, said the sharply falling price of solar-power modules prompted it to shift its remaining in-house production to lower-cost joint ventures in China and India and contract with other manufacturers for the rest.

About 110 jobs in sales, marketing, research and project development will remain in Frederick, housed for now in the prominent slant-roofed building along Interstate 270 about 40 miles from Washington, spokesman
Pete Resler said. The company said solar panel prices have fallen
nearly 50 percent in the past 18 months. The price drop has driven the consumer cost of solar power closer to that of electricity generated from fossil fuels, said Chief Executive Officer Reyad Fezzani.He
said that with global demand for solar power expected to boom in coming years, "we are scaling up our supply chain to serve this rapid growth here in the US, in the European and Asian markets." In 2009, BP
Solar announced its global sales rose more than 26 percent. The company
said it expects sales growth exceeding 50 percent in 2010.

BP Solar said it is increasingly focused on developing utility-sized projects. Fezzani said about 70 percent of solar industry jobs are in design, installation and maintenance. As a major project developer, BP Solar will help create hundreds of these new jobs, he said. Still, the company's announcement was "a big hit" to Frederick's economy, said state Sen. David Brinkley, R-Frederick.

"They're obviously going to be making the solar cells somewhere, but they're choosing physically
to relocate and not be here, and that's indicative of, I guess, the environment — the business environment and the economy," Brinkley said. Solar-cell
manufacturing in Frederick dates to the mid-1970s, when Hungarian
expatriates Joseph Lindmayer and Peter Varadi established Solarex. The company, housed in the plant topped by a huge, slanted, solar-panel array, became the nation's largest U.S.-owned solar cell producer by 1994, when then-owner Amoco Corp. sold a 50 percent share to Enron Corp. BP
acquired Amoco in 1998 and bought Enron's share a year later.

Associated Press writer Brian Witte contributed to this story from Annapolis.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Tracee Pickett]

DAVID - retract my statement. I just read Harvey's comment in the e-mail you sent me. 

[Harvey Abouelata]

In support of SHARP and other American made panels. If the government is offering grants to any industry the responsibility goes beyond supporting the industry. Solar grants provide clean energy, alternative energy and the potential to create jobs. When the bail out to the banks happened (which I never agreed with in the first place) and the money went executive bonuses to executives in Europe I was outranged. If my taxes are creating jobs elsewhere in the world right now - I am not a happy person. Once we get our country back on it's feet then it will be time reach out beyond our borders. I liked working BP and disappointed they made this decision.

[Jason]

USA USA USA USA

[Mary Shaffer Speight]

I used to sell BP Solar panels. We (myself and my company) knew the move was coming and experienced it directly when we received great pricing for PV panels when BP was trying to reduce their inventory in Maryland. The BP Solar sales rep also made us aware of BP shutting down U.S production, but I never saw much in the media about this unfortunate decision. I thought it was interesting to finally see an article about the move. I saw the article in the American Solar Energy Society's newsletter. This is not something I support, but I do believe it is worth sharing. I sell SHARP solar panels, one of the few panels made in the U.S. and the only panel made in Tennessee. Hopefully that helps explain the post a little better. Sorry for any confusion.

[Tracee Pickett]

we've got to begin somewhere....

[Tracee Pickett]

this is what I think off the cuff: first off-where did this news come from. Did someone call a comany rep before posting this news on this site? and then, after the confirmation of the news... does the word widespred boycott come to mind?